​NATO summit kicks off in Warsaw

A meeting of leaders of NATO member countries begins in Warsaw on 7 July to decide on increasing the security of the Alliance countries by strengthening deterrence and defence.

The allied nations are expected to agree on the deployment of four multinational battalions in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland on a rotational basis. A multinational brigade in Romania will ensure NATO's presence in Southeast Europe.

"We are becoming a full-fledged member of NATO. This is not just a political solution, but also what the Poles have always wanted and waited for 70 years - to be fully protected by the combined forces of NATO," said Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz.

As part of the effort to strengthen stability beyond their borders, heads of NATO countries should extend the training mission in Iraq and expand the role of the Alliance in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea. They also have to approve the deployment of NATO's AWACS surveillance aircraft to support the global coalition against the "Islamic state." NATO will continue military and financial support to Afghanistan and contribute to strengthening the political and practical cooperation with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

It will be the 28th summit since the establishment of NATO in December 1957. The previous summit was held in Wales in September 2014. The current summit is the first to be held in Poland. It will be attended by 58 official delegations of all 28 NATO allies, Montenegro, whose accession to NATO is currently in the process of ratification by 26 partner countries, as well as representatives of the UN, the EU, the World Bank and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Earlier, President Petro Poroshenko said he expected NATO will confirm the perspective of Ukraine's membership in the Alliance.

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